At a time when writing by and about women was rare and tentative, Chughtai explored female sexuality with unparalleled frankness and examined the political and social mores of her time. She wrote about the world that she knew, bringing the idiom of the middle class to Urdu prose, and totally transformed the complexion of Urdu fiction. Lifting the Veil brings together Ismat Chughtai's fiction and non-fiction writing. The twenty-one pieces in this selection are Chughtai at her best, marked by her brilliant turn of phrase, scintillating dialogue and wry humour, her characteristic irreverence, wit and eye for detail.

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Specifications

Book Details

Imprint

Penguin Classics

Publication Year

2009 February

Contributors

Authored By

M. Asaduddin

Edited By

Ismat Chughtai

Author Info

Ismat Chughtai (191191) was Urdus most courageous and controversial woman writer in the twentieth century. She carved a niche for herself among her contemporaries of Urdu fiction writersRajinder Singh Bedi, Saadat Hasan Manto and Krishan Chanderby introducing areas of experience not explored before. Her work not only transformed the complexion of Urdu fiction, it brought about an attitudinal change in the assessment of literary works. Although a spirited member of the Progressive Writers Movement in India, she spoke vehemently against its orthodoxy and inflexibility. Often perceived of as a feminist writer, Chughtai explored female sexuality while also exploring other dimensions of social and existential reality.

Here's a translation of the first lines of the story "The Wedding Suit" from this book.

"A clean sheet was spread, once again, on the chauki, the wooden board, that day. Sunlight filtered in through the chinks of the tiled roof making odd patterns in the courtyard."

And the same lines from an older translation of the same story by Tahira Naqvi and Syeda S Hameed, published by "Kali for women" in a collection called "The Quilt and Other Stories", under the title "The Wedding Shroud":

Ismat Chughtai was an eminent Indian writer in Urdu, known for her indomitable spirit and a fierce feminist ideology. This famous book is translated from Urdu. Last year the whole nation celebrated the birth centenary of Ismat Chughtai. I am very happy to buy this book from Flipkart.